Sunday Night Quarterback

We all know who won, don't we? But who cares about that? We all know that the real reason people watch the Super Bowl is for the camaraderie, the chance to gather with family and loved ones, and share the joy that comes with watching commercials that cost three million dollars to air.

This year, some commercials were preceded by "teasers" which provided a cliffhanger for what would be shown during the game. This first one by Bridgestone Tires is one of them. A stunt like this is really great if it works. Personally, I wouldn't recommend practicing with a real killer whale. But hey, that's just me.

At least two sponsors are guaranteed to go completely out of their way every year. One of them, Frito-Lay, had a contest inviting audiences to choose the best from among six commercials for Dorito's. When a Catholic is buried, it is generally with a rosary in their hands. I've thought of being buried in a surplice and cassock, maybe with a Latin psalter, in addition to the rosary thing. Never thought of what I'd bring to eat, though. Probably because I'd be dead.

The other contender for outdoing the previous year, is Anheuser-Busch, the makers of Budweiser. In this story, a town comes together so that the life-saving beer could be delivered, and their lives could go on. Anheuser-Busch is one of the major buyers of air time for the big game every year, and there are quite a few commercials for Bud and Bud Light. It's a close one, but this is my favorite.

(Have you noticed something odd about this one? Yeah, it's reversed. My original clip ended up being banned as this was being published, so I had to get another one. You get the idea, though.)

Electronic Arts (EA) is an international developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. I don't remember such a company having an ad for the Super Bowl. Dante's Inferno is in stores this Tuesday. In this game, you must journey through the nine rancid, writhing, violent, befouled, fiery circles of Hell to rescue Beatrice whom Satan has stolen for his bride. That explains the Bill Withers song.

To see all the ads (including the FOTF ad), go to USA Today and see how they rate.

Or you could watch the game -- if you're into that sort of thing.
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